Cycling, trains, walking. This is the place to talk about how good or bad cycle routes are, mention great train journeys, talk about car sharing schemes or husky travel. Anything in fact that is about transport that is a little alternative.

As a cyclist you need to be brave and confident. It also helps to have a good pair of lungs and a few profanities in your vocabulary and that's just to keep the stupid car drivers at bay.

Of course you need to build up your confidence but getting on and off the bike when you see traffic will not help you. If it's 25 years since you cycled I reckon you must be an old sod of at least 36 but the same things applied then as they do now. Go slow enough and you fall off. Ride badly, dangerously or inconsideratly and you will come off worse especially with cars.

The best tricks I can sugest is to find a quiet place like a public park or maybe a trading estate with smooth roads / paths and have a poodlearound there building up your speed and stamina as you go. Then when you are a bit more confident ride on the roads but DO NOT,NEVER EVER get off when you see a car especially one behind you ( he's behind you, oh no he isn't) Just carry on cycling in a straightish line BUT GRADUALLY MOVE OUT ABOUT 2 FOOT FROM THE PAVEMENT.

The reason for this is simply this. You have given yourself an escape route if you need it. The arshole car drivers will eventually overtake you and sometime, just sometimes they cut in quick or driveclose to you to scare you. If they do this you have your 2 foot escape route to use but if you ride in the gutter all the time then when the drivers go too close to scare you you either have to jump up on the kerb or fall off. This is where the profanities come in handy,

The final bit of advice is to overtake parked cars in the middle of the road because many, many drivers don't look in their mirrors before they open their drivers door.

Advice taken from years of experience, fights, Road rage, road rage, you ain't seen nothing till youv'e seen cyclerage!! hospital trips, busted helmets, torn clothes and a really good healthy set of lungs. Oh and this is from some old sod at least 14 years you senior

Member of the Ishloss weight group 2013. starting weight 296.00 pounds on 01.01.2013. Now minus 0.20 pounds total THIS WEEK - 0.20 pounds Now over 320 pounds and couldn't give a fig...
Secret Asparagus binger

You can usually hear the change in the note of the engine behind you, as they decide they're going to overtake and turn left in front of you. Do not let them. If in doubt, stick your arm out to move right if it's safe.

If you do cycle regularly, you can get quite a speed up and this fools many drivers - they normally don't think of you as 'traffic'!! The opposite is true - cyclists have far more rights (actual and moral) than drivers. The more cyclists, the more this will be acknowledged.

There are lots of idiots on bikes as well. The number of stupid, illegal and downright dangerous things I see from cyclists beggars belief. I watched one the other day - great big artic stopped at lights indicating left. Pillock on a push bike rides up between artic and pavement and stops right under the wing mirror of the lorry. Bear in mind the side window of the truck is above the cyclists head.

Lorry proceeds to turn left and of course the trailer swings across where the cyclist was.